The gun most likely used in the killings of a mother and son in their Dale City home was a family heirloom stored in a bedroom closet. According to court records, the 17-year-old neighbor charged in the killings managed to locate a .22-caliber rifle and a revolver in the victims’ house. Authorities believe he used one of the guns to kill Jean and James Smith, then left the house with the two weapons.

Grim details about the slayings of a Christiansburg mother and daughter emerged in court documents this week, after their suspected killer was found hanging in his jail cell. Police found the bodies of Shelley Ann Wood, 35, and her 16-year-old daughter, Ashley Taylor Sweeney, in their Haymaker Street home early Saturday. Jeffrey Lee Mills, 34, was arrested that night and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. It is unclear exactly when Wood and her daughter were killed, but arrest warrants for Mills list the date as sometime between Thursday and Saturday.

Richmond prosecutors yesterday withdrew a charge against a teenager who strangled his abusive father, saying the teen acted in self-defense and didn’t mean to kill him.

Authorities have charged a high school student with murder in the killings of a Dale City mother and son. Xavier Pinckney, 17, was arrested early yesterday, three days after Jean Smith, 39, and her son James Smith, 19, were shot to death in their home during an attempted burglary, police said. Pinckney, who lives in the same neighborhood as the victims, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, Prince William County police Maj. Ray Colgan said.

A mother and son described as the “kind of people you aspire to be” were found dead in their Dale City home last week, Prince William County police said.

A mother and son described as the “kind of people you aspire to be” were found dead in their Dale City home last week, Prince William County police said. Jean Claire Smith, 39, and James Marshall Smith, 19, were discovered Friday about 3 p.m. by a younger son of Jean Smith, Maj. Ray Colgan said. The husband and father, Rick Smith, was at work at the time.

An alcohol-fueled argument apparently sparked yesterday’s early-morning shooting death of an Amelia County man who was partying with friends at a Chesterfield County home, police said. Sean K. France, 37, of the 15400 block of Elm Cottage Lane in Amelia was found dead with a gunshot wound to his upper body when police responded at about 1 a.m. to a home in the 4200 block of Richwine Road, near Belmont Road and Chippenham Parkway.

Two days of testimony from opposing snitches and FBI agents over who killed an FBI informant with nine bullets two years ago has left a federal judge scratching his head. “This is not a very well-lit path, to say the least,“ U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said yesterday after hearing from nine shackled inmates and one former and three current FBI agents, among other witnesses.

Petersburg shooting victim Wallace Wesson Jr. was laid to rest yesterday, the day after police arrested the fourth person wanted in his killing. Donnell Green surrendered Friday in connection with the shooting death of the 21-year-old Wesson, who was gunned down in front of his home near Sixth and Accomack streets last Sunday. Green, 18, has been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit a felony and use of a firearm to commit a felony.

One of two residents shot last week inside a Powhatan County home by men demanding cash was the father of Tahliek Taliaferro, who was slain during an unrelated shooting this summer, court documents show.

A victim in a Powhatan County shooting last week died yesterday from his injuries, authorities said. On Nov. 28, police responded to a 9:45 a.m. call at a home on Three Bridge Road, off U.S. 522 in northwest Powhatan, and found Anthony McKoy shot several times in the torso. McKoy was taken by helicopter to VCU Medical Center. Another victim in the shooting was treated and released the day of the shooting, police said.

Petersburg police are seeking a fourth suspect in connection with the death of a Petersburg man on Sunday, police said. A warrant for Donnell A. Green, 18, was obtained today, said police spokeswoman Esther Hyatt. He has been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit a felony and use of a firearm to commit a felony. . Three people are already in custody in connection with the shooting death of Wallace Wesson Jr., police said.

Reginald “Shay” Nicholson, 19, was shot in the head Nov. 9 at a party near James Madison University. A former high school football star from Staunton has died at the University of Virginia Medical Center, about two weeks after suffering a gunshot wound to the head. Reginald “Shay” Nicholson, 19, died Friday evening, Harrisonburg police said.

Chesterfield County police have arrested a man in the death of a woman whose body was found in a hotel stairwell a year ago.

A second trial began yesterday for a Richmond man accused of killing his cousin in retaliation for the death of another cousin several hours earlier. Prosecutors say Jason L. Patillo, 25, shot and killed James “Soul” Patillo, 37, on Feb. 4.